Over the years, many documents have been destroyed or lost because their owners have died without leaving a will or without including directions for the disposal of their family papers. Many of the notes and Linfield family trees drawn up by Stanford Smith were destroyed following the death of one of the Linfield family to whom they had been sent, with the result that much of his work cannot readily be checked without repeating years of hard work. Even if you have not researched the family history, you probably have papers which have been handed down which would be helpful to others in drawing up the history of the family. Letters, wills, birth, marriage and death certificates and old newspaper cuttings all help to piece together the history of our Linfield and Lindfield ancestors.

If you have such papers, we would urge you to leave specific instructions in your will that they should be sent to the Lin(d)field One Name Group or to the Society of Genealogists in London. There are standard forms of words for including in a will for this purpose and we can supply copies of these on request. Even better would be to send them, or copies of them, to us now so that they can be used in our research. We are happy to refund the cost of copying and postage. Alternatively, send them to us and we will make copies and return the originals.

The Returns of Owners of Land 1873, were originally published by Her Majesty’s Stationery Office from 1875 onwards, and contained names, residences, acreages and annual rentals of all those who owned one acre or more of land. Continue reading →

We have received a number of letters since starting the Group from people saying that they have always intended to research their family history, but were unsure how to get started. This article is based upon the advice we have sent in reply to such enquiries, and is published here in the hope that it will help a few more Lin(d)field descendants to start researching. It refers to the records in the United Kingdom, though the general principle applies in most countries which keep public records. Continue reading →

One of the goals which we set ourselves when starting the One Name Group, was to assemble all the Lin(d)field entries from the General Register Office (GRO) index of births, at least up to about 1920. To this end, we have collected as much material as we can find from members own records, and are continuing to transcribe the indexes for those years which are not already covered. Continue reading →

Among the various lists of passengers and emigrants, there are to be found several who seem to be worthy of further investigation. For example, in the year 1702, we find Francis and John Linfield recorded as immigrants to Bath County, North Carolina. (Ref. 1) The records also show the names of those who brought people to the County, who were apparently rewarded by being granted land. In the case of Francis and John, the person named is one William Brice, who is shown as having brought six people on June 22nd, 1702. As well as Francis and John, there were William and Ann Brice, and Elizabeth and David Depee. The records do not give any further details. The 1984 issue of the International Genealogical Index (IGI) does not have any Linfield or Lindfield entries for North Carolina, and I have not yet checked the vital records for that period. It would be interesting to know what happened to Francis and John, and whether they married and had issue. As yet, I can find no clues as to their origins in England, assuming of course that they came from England in the first place. Continue reading →

One of the many “loose ends” in the history of the Lin(d)field families is in the form of Robert Linfield, who died in London in 1685. His will is one of a large number of documents in the Whitmore Collection, a microfilm copy of which is available at the Society of Genealogists in London. (Ref. 1) Continue reading →